Kiribati
17m
Aug 28, 2026
The House That Holds Everything: Inside Kiribati's Maneaba Culture
On coral atolls so flat that the ocean is always visible from the center of the island, the people of Kiribati built a structure that does the work of a parliament, a courthouse, a church, a concert hall, and a community center — all under one roof of pandanus thatch. The maneaba is the reason a civilization survived in one of the most isolated and vulnerable places on earth. And it may not survive the century.